Engine



July 3, 195l c. E. LEJA 2,559,079 'I ENGINE Filed OCI'.. l5, 1947 IN VEN TOR. Cas/)nir E. Lef@ by one end of the connecting rod 20.

Patented July 3, '1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENGINE CasimirE..Leja, Chicago, Ill.

Application October 15, 1947, Serial No. 780,049

(Cl. 12S-84) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and isparticularly directed to small engines of this type which are adaptedfor various uses and particularly for aviation and racing cars ormodels.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved engineof this type which will,

be simple in construction, easily started and dura-ble and eicient inoperation.

Other objects arev to provide an improved engine housing; to provide asimplified crankshaft and improved camshaft drive; to provide animprovedv mounting for a propeller or fly Wheel.; to provide novel valvesprings; and to provide such other improvements in construction, andoperation as will appear more fully from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating this invention,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View with parts broken away oromitted for convenience in illustration;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the crankshaft;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the camshaft and driving mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a front view as taken from the right hand side of Fig. 1particularly showing the irnproved cooling fins; and

Fig. 5 is a detail of the valve spring mounting.

As shown in theseV drawings, 6 is the cylinder which is preferablyprovided with a steel lining 'I and cylinder head B. The-crankcase 9 iscast integrally with the cylinder and has an opening Ill whichisconcentric with the shaft and which is covered by a housing II securedthereto by means of cap screws: I2 as shown. The housing II is ofsomewhat oval or egg-shape and is provided with an inwardly extendingelongated bearing I3 for the tubular crankshaft I4. Bushings IE and I6are pressed into the ends of the bearing member I3 for engagement withthe crankshaft. The crank arm I'I has a counter weight I8 at one end anda tubular crank pin I9 at the opposite end. The crank pin is engaged Theopposite end of the connecting rod engages With the wrist pin 2| of thepiston 22.

The camshaft 23 is formed integrally with. `the cams 24 and 25 and isheld in place `by split bearings 26 and 2l which are rst assembled onthe camshaft and then pressed into: bosses` 28 and 29 provided in thecrankcase for receiving the same.

The camshaft 23 has a gear 30 secured to its inner end which meshes witha pinion gear 3l formed integrally with a stub shaft 32 which is mountedin a hearing 33 in alignment with the axis of the shaft I3. The stubshaft 32 has a radially extendingarm 34 which is also preferably formedintegrally with the gear 3| and engages with a slot 35 in the end ofthe, crankpin I9 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The arm 34 has a counterweight 36. By means of this gearing arrangement, the camshaft will bedriven at the proper speed and it will be particularly noted that thepinion 3I will remain in the crankcase and the proper timing will bemaintained when the crank pin engages with the arm 34. This arrangementprovides forthe convenient removal of the crank and again assembling thesame without disturbing the valve timing.

The cams 24 and 25 engage respectively with camv followers 31 and 38which actuate the push rods 39 and 40 for operating the rocker arms 4Iand 42 which coact with the valve stems 4.3 and.

44 in the usual manner.

The valve stems are raised by springs 45- and 46, the particularconstruction and arrangement.

of which constitutes one of the important features of the presentinvention. These springs are bear against the bottoms of the'holesandprovide the only points of contact between the springs and the cylinderhead. The arrangement is such that the bearing portions of the springswill be in alignment with the center line of the valve stems and thustend to prevent any lateral pressure on the upper portions of such stemswhen the valves are operated.

This type of floating spring has a higher period of vibration oroscillation than an ordinary coiled spring and does4 not tend to surgeas readily as such springs. The rocker arms are pivotally :mounted in ahousing or bracket 49 which is secured -by means of two. studs 50 whichstuds also serve to fasten the cylinder head to the cylinder. Thecylinder head is further fastened hy two similar shorter studs 5I. mentadds to the saving in weight andl simplicity of construction.

A substantially circular guard or protector 52 l which is concentricwith the axis of the crankshaft is cast at the rear of the crankcase andex- Thisk arrange- 3 tends inwardly over the camshaft gears. This guardprevents damage to the connecting rod when the propeller or fiy wheel isremoved and the engine is cranked, or also in the event of certain kindsof accidents or crack-ups.

Some of the cylinder head cooling ns such as shown at 53 are arranged tocurve from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane, thereby giving morefin area on the exhaust side of the cylinder head as shown in Fig. 4.This particular arrangement adds greatly in maintaining the propertemperature of the engine for giving the highest efficiency.

The driven member 54 which may be a propeller, fly wheel, pulley, or thelike, is mounted between two discs 55 and 56. The disc 55 is secured tothe shaft I4 preferably by means of splines or projections 51 which t incorresponding grooves in the hub of the disc. A cap screw or bolt 58extends through the discs and driven member and is threaded to engagewith the corresponding threads 59 in the end of the crankshaft |4.- Thispermits an easy and convenient mounting of the propeller, or the like,and in the event of damage, there is little possibility of injury to thecrankshaft.

From this description, it will be seen that I provide an engine in whichthe crankshaft housing is such that it provides for ease of assembly inproduction, and furthermore increases the capacityl of the crankcase.This lowers the crankcase compression and results in cleaner and moreefficient running. The construction whereby the crankcase and cylinderare cast together with necessary bosses or projections or variousoperating parts further enhances the simplicity of construction andeconomy in the manufacture of the engine as well as improvement in theoperation of the same.

It will be noted that the engine may be provided with any desired formof ignition and other coacting devices such as fuel supply, and thelike, in order to make an operative structure, but such parts have notbeen described as they form no part of the invention except asinstrumentalities used in the operation of the same.

, It will also be noted that changes may be made in the details ofconstruction or arrangement of the parts without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, and therefore I do not wish to belimited to the particular construction shown and described except assetforth in the following claims in which I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, acrankcase, a crankcase housing extending outwardly from the crankcaseand forming an extension therefor and having a bearing extending intothe crankcase, a crankshaft mounted in said bearing, a piston in saidcylinder, a piston rod connecting the piston with the crank, saidcrankshaft having its crank pin extending a short distance only throughthe piston rod and having a transverse slot therein, a stub shaftmounted in the crankcase in alignment with the crankshaft, a pinion onthe stub shaft adjacent to the crank pin, .an armextendingrradially'from Vthe stub shaft and engaging with the slot inthe crank pin, a camshaft mounted adjacent to Vthe stub shaft and a gearon the camshaft engaging with the pinion on the stub shaft, thearrangement being such that the stub shaft and pinion may remain in thecrankcase when thecrankshaft is removed and the timing will bemaintainedwhen the crankshaftis in 4 serted with the slot in the crank pinengaging with said arm.

2. Valve actuating means for an internal combustion four-cycle enginehaving a crankcase which is closed at one end, a bearing extendinginwardly from the closed end and open to the crankcase, a stub shaftmounted in the bearing and extending into the case, a gearing on theinner end of the stub shaft formed integrally therewith, an armformedintegrally with the gear and extending at right angles thereto,the crankcase having an opening opposite the closed end, a

` housing covering said opening, a crankshaft bearing in the housing, acrankshaft mounted in said bearing and having a crank pin with atransverse slot in the end thereof which is engaged by .said arm, aremovable bearing in the closed end adjacent to the stub'shaft bearing,a camshaft mounted in said bearing and extending into the crankcase, agear on said camshaft which meshes with the rst named gear, and camsformed integrally with the camshaft which are also positioned in thecrankcase.

3. An engine having a crankcase which is closed at one end, a bearinginr the closed end which opens into the crankcase, a stub shaft mountedin said bearing and extending into the case, a gearing carried by thestub shaft, an arm on the gearing extending radially therefrom, thecrankcase having an opening opposite the closed end which is sufcientlylarge to permit the insertion of the stub shaft with the parts mountedthereon intoy position through said opening, a housing for said opening,a crankshaft bearing in they housing, a crankshaft mounted in thebearing and having a crank pin with a transverse slot in the end`thereof which is engaged by said arm for turning .the stub shaft,thearrangement being such that the stub shaft and parts connectedVtherewith may be readily inserted through the gagement with the crankpin.

4. An engine having a crankcase closed at one end, a bearing in theclosed end, a stub shaft mounted in the bearing and extending into thecase, a gear carried by said stub shaft, an arm extending radially fromsaid gear, a bearing in the closed end adjacent to the bearing for thestub shaft, a cam shaft mounted in said bearing and extending into thecrankcase, a gear on said cam shaft which meshes with the first namedgear, and a substantially circular guard prof jecting from the crankcasewall and extending inwardly over said gears, substantially as described.

* Y* CASIMIR E. LEJA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 615,766 Vansckle 1 DeC. 13, 1898815,779 Bailleul Mar. 20, 1906 872,571 Moser Dec. 3, 1907 1,422,729Waterhouse July 11, 1922 1,447,245 Gore Mar. 6, 1923 1,974,802 ChiltonSept. 25, 1934 2,085,976 Heintz --.n July 6, 1937 2,252,600 May Aug. 12,1941 2,419,274 McDowall et al. Apr. 22, 1947

